Budget 2026-27: Government Announces ITR Filing Deadline Extension

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has proposed major tax relief for taxpayers in the Union Budget 2026. The government has extended Income Tax Return filing deadlines for certain taxpayers. This change makes tax filing easier and gives people more time to complete their returns.

Even though there were high expectations that Budget 2026 would introduce changes in income tax slabs, the standard deduction, and tax relief under the new tax regime for the salaried taxpayers and middle-class families. However, the government did not introduce changes to the Income Tax Slabs. This year, the government aimed at changing the income tax law, simplifying ITR filing and reducing the compliance burden for the taxpayers.

New ITR Filing Timeline for Non-Audit Cases

For the businesses and trusts that are not subject to tax audit, the ITR filing due date has been extended from July 31 to August 31. This will offer much-needed relief for the business, as they have more time to complete their filings without getting penalised.

However, for the salaried employees and other eligible taxpayers using ITR-1 (Sahaj) or ITR-2 forms, the deadline is still 31st July. There is no change in the ITR due date for these taxpayers.

Revised ITR Filing Deadline Extension

The Government has proposed to extend the due date for filing the revised income tax return from December 31 to March 31, with a nominal fee of Rs 5,000. This will give more time to taxpayers.